1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus and method in which whether the communication partner is a facsimile equipment or a personal computer is detected, and both facsimile communication and data communication can be :executed consecutively by automatically switching from one mode to the other mode without suspending a communication line no matter from which the data is first transmitted between the facsimile equipment and the personal computer of the communication partner.
2. Description of the Related Art
So-called facsimile communication is to transmit picture or image information through the telephone line to a facsimile equipment of the other party, executed according to T.30 of the International Committee For Telephone And Telegraph. For this facsimile communication a modem device, transforming digital picture or image data compressed into analogue signals, is utilized to connect an interface of the facsimile equipment with the telephone line. The analogue signals are then transmitted through the telephone line to the facsimile equipment of the other party for execution of facsimile communication.
On the other hand, so-called data communication is to transmit character or letter information to a personal computer of the other party. For this data communication another modem device, transforming digital character data coded into analogue signals, is utilized to connect an interface of the personal computer with the telephone line.
Besides normal telephone conversations, the use of the telephone line has recently increased greater and greater for facsimile communications. Due to development of the telephone communication technologies, utility of the telephone line today extends to the computer field for execution of data communications between personal computers.